Roller washline



Jan. 22 1924. 1,4811497 J. BETZ ROLLER WASHLINE Filed Dec. 51'. 1921 John Beiz A HORNE Y 8 Patented Jan. 22, 1924.

'9 STATES JOHN BETZ, or :s'r. CLOUD, mmnnsorA.

ROLLER WASHLINE.

Application filed December 31 1921. Serial No. 526,118.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, JOHN Bn'rz, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of St. Cloud, in the county of Stearns and State of Minnesota, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Roller Washlines, of which the following is a full, clear, andexact description.

My invention relates to improvements in roller wash lines, and it consists in the combinations, constructions and arrangements herein described and claimed.

An object of my invention is to provide a device of the character described in which a wash line may be rolled up and enclosed in a casing when not in use.

A further object of my invention is to provide a device of the character described, in which the use of hand cranks and the like are done away with.

A further object of my invention is to provide a device of the character described, by use of which the operator may place or remove wash from the line while standing at one spot.

Other objects and advantages will appear in the following specification, and the novel features of the invention will be particularly pointed out in the appended claim.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, forming part of this application, in which Fig. 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment of my invention, and

Fig. 2 is a sectional view of a part of the mechanism illustrated in Fig. 1.

In carrying out my invention, I make use of a box-like casing 1 having a removable door 2, which covers one entire side of the casing 1.

The casing 1 is provided with brackets 3 having holes 4 therethrough for securing the casing 1 to a wall by means of screws or bolts received in the holes 4.

A metal rod 5 is supported upon the side walls 6 and 7 of the casing 1 at a point adjacent the center thereof. A large roller 8 of wood or other suitable material is rotatably mounted upon the rod 5. The roller 8 is as long as the casing 1 will permit.

A threaded rod 9 is supported on the side walls 6 and 7 of the casing 1 in parallel relation to the rod 5 and adjacent the front of the casing 1. This is clearly shown in Fig. 2. The rod 9 is fixed against rotation with respect to the supporting walls 6 and 7. A

grooved pulley wheel 10 having a, threaded bore is rotatably supported on the threaded rod 9 in such a manner as to move laterally upon the rod 9 as itis rotated. i

A. second threaded rod 11 is disposed at the bottom of the casing 1 and is also parallel tothe rod 5. Thethreaded rod 11 is .di-

rectly beneath the rod 9. A pair of spaced apart grooved pulley'wheels 12 and 13 are provided with threaded .bores therethrough and .arerotatably supported upon the threaded rod 11 in precisely the same manner as the pulley wheel 10. The pulley wheels 10, 12 and 13 are of substantially the same circumference.

A relatively large grooved pulley 14is rot tatably supported within, a housing 15. ,The housing 15 is adapted to be fastened to'a supporting surface at a distance from the casing 1 and substantially in line with the central point of the casing 1. l 1

A cable 16 is secured at one. end to the roller 8' and is adapted to be Wound thereupon. The other end of the cable 16 is passed up and over the pulley wheel 10 and from the pulley wheel 10 is run to and over the pulley wheel 1 1 supported within the housing 15. The end of the cable 16 is secured as shown at 17 to a cross bar 18 at a point intermediate its length.

. The cross bar 18 is provided with clamping members 19 and 20 at each end thereof.

A pair of wash lines 21 and22 are secured at one end to the cross bar 18 by means of the clamping members 19 and 20. The wash lines 21 and 22 extend from the clamps 19 and 20 and pass under the pulley Wheels 12 and 13, respectively, and from thence are wound upon the roller 8 in the manner shown in Fig. 1.

To provide additional support for wash lines 21 and 22 intermediate their lengths when fully extended, I provide a hanger 23 which is provided at its upper end with the grooved pulley wheel 24 adapted to run upon the cable 16. The lower end of the hanger 23 has a pair of outwardly extending arms 24. The arms 24: have at their outer ends hook members 25. Thelines 21 and 22 are adapted to be supported upon the hook members 25.

The door 2 of the casing 1 has a smaller door 26 at the bottom thereof, which provides for the passage of the wash lines21 and 22 when the door 2 is in place upon the casing 1. A broad groove 27 in the upper various parts of the device, the operation.

thereof may be readily understood. Normally, the Wash lines 21 and 22 are Wound upon the roller 8 and only the cable 16, which may be of braided wire or any other suitable material, is exposed to the weather. The cable 16 extends from the cross piece 18 over the pulley 14 and back to the roller 8 in the casing 1.

When it is desired to hang articles upon the wash lines 21 and 22, the operator will grasp the lower length of the cable 16 and draw it away from the casing 1. In doing this, the wash lines 21 and 22 will be unreeled from the roller 8 and the Opp site end of the cable 16, that is the end upon the roller 8, will be reeled upon the roller. The articlesare then placed upon the lines 21 and 22 and the cable 16 is further drawn away from the casing 1 and more articles placed upon the wash lines 21 and 22.

When the cross bar 18 has moved considerabledistance from the operator, it will then be necessary to grasp the upper cable 16 and draw it toward the casing 1 or to grasp the wash lines and move them away from the casing 1.

The threads upon the rod 9 and on the bore of the pulley Wheel 10 are such that the cable 16 is evenly distributed upon a portion of the roller 8 as it is reeled in over the pulley 10. Likewise, the pulley wheels 12 and 13 are adapted to move laterally upon the threaded rod 11 as the wash lines 21 and 22 pass thereunder and thus provide a means for evenly distributing the wash lines 21 and 22 upon allotted portions of the roller 8.

Obviously, the distance between the casing 1 and the pulley 1 1 may vary. A convenient distance, however, has been found to be about/fifty feet, thus affording one hundred feet of available wash line in a distance of fifty feet.

The purpose of the hanger 23 which is adapted to support the wash lines 21 and 22 upon the hook members 25 is to support the wash lines 21 and 22 intermediate their length when a heavy wash is hung thereupon. The hanger 23 will normally move with the lines 21 and 22 and will roll along the cable 16 by means of the pulley 24:.

I claim:

In a device of the character described, a pair of wash lines disposed in'parallel rela tion to one another, a cable disposed over said wash lines and arranged to move said wash lines longitudinally when said cable is moved longitudinally, and a supporting hanger movably disposed on said cable, said hanger having hook members for slidably supporting said wash lines.

JOHN BETZ. 

